Show some respect: referees fight back

With increasing numbers of referees, about 7,000 a year, leaving the game every year, the FA has attempted to stop the rot by making a promotional film to highlight the poor official's plight as part of their Respect campaign.

The 90 second masterpiece, which is called 'Can We Have A Referee' (and can be seen here), features a number of footballing luminaries including Mark Bright, Les Ferdinand and Fabio Capello, as well as celebrities such as ex-Eastender Shaun Williamson and Gethin Jones.

The viral film, shot last month at Northwood FC, tells the story of an amateur football match which descends into farce because it doesn’t have a referee and is spoilt by a series of arguments and bad behaviour - a scenario that will be familiar to those who regularly ignore hangovers and ill fitting football kit to ply their trade on a Sunday morning.

But the film does have a serious message - as part of a concerted drive to retain more referees and support them as they progress.

FA Chief Executive Brian Barwick said:"The promotional film will really help raise awareness of this important issue – it needs everyone to look at their own behaviour."

Comments

[Barrie Collins]

In recent seasons, Man U. staged mob scenes around the referee every time they disapproved of his decision, to the extent that I still firmly believe that they were orchestrated by their manager. Well, it worked! Man U. are still the beneficiaries of some of the "friendliest" refereeing I've ever seen. It is small wonder, therefore, that other teams are trying to go the same route.

In ice hockey, only the captains are allowed to query a referee's decision, and it cuts down these attempts at team intimidation. This system should be brought in immediately in football too. John Terry tries to do this for Chelsea, but sadly some of his teammates are not always ready to leave this to him.

It might also be a good idea to make it a straight red card for deliberately foul-mouthing the officials. The odd curse word when reacting to a missed "sitter", etc., would not incur this penalty of course; just expletives directed specifically at the officials.

Managers could reinforce their players' respect towards the officials by implementing severe club fines against any transgressors, in addition to whatever punishment the League hands out. This problem could easily be resolved over the course of one season if all in authority remain determined, but I fear the dreaded "wimp out" as usual.

[Gunth]

Comment to Brett,
Sir, do you know the Off-Side Law to make such a statement? When did the player started to run to receive the ball in the "off-side" position?
Two referees will not work, it was tried earlier in the College games and taken out,two people never have the same mind or recognize the foul the same way. It is however a must that a referee is in position to make the call but we know why they are not.

[Brett]

And for the record, I umpired baseball for over 10 years. I always consulted with my fellow umpires to get calls right. Moreover, I allowed players and coaches to respectfully speak to me. I was one of the few umpires who would reverse calls if they were wrong. I wish PL officials would do the same.

[Brett]

I agree that on-field antics against referees are out of control. I think, like in Hockey or in Baseball, only a team captain or coach/manager should be allowed to discuss calls with the official...and in a respectful tone. By the same token, referees should be, at the professional level, expected to make calls correctly and not "stick with a call" because it might put egg on their faces with a reversal: if you want proof, look at the recent Arsenal-Juve match, where the only goal was scored by a player that was clearly 4-5 FEET offside. That's inexcusable. Money's involved in winning these games and clubs have a right to get calls correctly made. If that means instant replay on goal-scoring plays, so be it. If it means sacking awful officials, so be it. If it means adding a second on-field referee, so be it. They've done both replay and adding an extra referee in Hockey and much more behind-the-play and controversial goal calls are made right. Of course, not ALL calls will be corrected. But the volume of human error has been greatly reduced. Also, high level referees get paid handsomely--players and clubs should be able to rely on their consistency in judgment. Right now they generally can't. Until referees at the highest levels show this ability, they will always have to parry angry and disrespectful protests from indignant managers and players.

[Mike]

I am a referee who stopped reffing games. I think that the money that was spent on this video should be recouped with huge fines for players showing dissent in the top levels of the national game. Rooney, Terry et al need to be severely punished to bring respect back from the top down.

More referees would stay and the game would be significantly improved in the process.